25/02/2018
NEWS STORY
This evening (Sunday), McLaren became the latest team to confirm its line-up for the opening four-day test at Barcelona which gets underway tomorrow.
And while Red Bull, Force India and Haas have confirmed their line-ups for the second test, Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault have yet to confirm their plans for the first week.
In recent years, Mercedes has opted to run one driver in the morning with the second taking over in the afternoon, that driver continuing the following morning before handing over again after lunch. A sign of the German team's confidence will be whether it continues that trend this year.
Ahead of tomorrow morning’s session, Force India and Toro Rosso will finally unveil their cars in the Barcelona pitlane.
Though this week's test will be about bedding in the new cars and engines and looking at reliability rather than fast times, the weather gods look set to play a part with rain expected - and possibly even snow - on Wednesday and Thursday.
Update: Mercedes has (ominously revealed that Hamilton and Bottas will share duties on day one, a pattern followed by Renault where Hulkenberg and Sainz will alternate each day.
| Team | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu |
| Mercedes | Bottas/Hamilton | Hamilton/Bottas | TBC | TBC |
| Ferrari | Raikkonen | Vettel | Raikkonen | Vettel |
| Red Bull | Ricciardo | Verstappen | Ricciardo | Verstappen |
| Force India | Mazepin | Ocon | Perez | Latifi |
| Williams | Stroll/Sirotkin | Sirotkin/Kubica | Stroll/Kubica | Sirotkin/Stroll |
| Renault | Hulkenberg/Sainz | Sainz/Hulkenberg | Hulkenberg/Sainz | Sainz/Hulkenberg |
| Toro Rosso | Hartley | Gasly | Hartley | Gasly |
| Haas | Grosjean | Magnussen | Grosjean | Magnussen |
| McLaren | Alonso | Vandoorne | Alonso | Vandoorne |
| Sauber | Ericsson | Leclerc | Ericsson | Leclerc |